UFCW Local 247 members in busy grocery stores are on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis, and the union wants members to know union leadership and staff are in discussion with employers to improve safe practices and protections for members.

“We have contacted Loblaws, Sobeys, and other retail grocers, to talk about active measures we can take to do as much as possible to improve employee safety during the COVID-19 outbreak,” says Suzanne Hodge, President of UFCW Local 247.

“I have voiced my concerns directly to Loblaws as of this morning,” says Hodge, “and Secretary-Treasurer Dan Goodman did the same with Sobeys.”

“We have laid out our concerns and some suggestions, focusing on Cashiers, and the overall problem of close contact and crowds of customers in the stores,” she says.

“The importance of ‘social distancing’ is something new to most of us, and when you have the kind of intense shopping and crowded stores we’re seeing, the idea of social distancing, important as it is, can fall by the wayside, and that’s not good for anybody, employees or customers,” says Hodge.

“We are continuing talks with the employers,” says Hodge, “and we’re asking members to continue to be as mindful as they can about protecting themselves and others.”

For further information, please see, "We're all in this together" – COVID-19 info for UFCW Local 247 members